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The Pirate Queen
Streetwise, light-fingered, Barbary Clampett, whose survival has been filched out of other people's pockets, is wrenched from the stews of London to be groomed as the long-lost heir. But Barbary has a secret ...and the woman who eventually goes to Ireland on the Queen's treasure hunt has allegiance only to herself.
Caught up in the massacres, cruelty and beauty of Ireland, however, she is allowed no neutrality. Besides, she falls in love and becomes drawn into the last great rebellion led by Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and the realization that the piracy of the indomitable Grace O'Malley is outweighed by the piracy of England's Queen Elizabeth.
THE PIRATE QUEEN is the powerful story of a woman and a country fighting for the freedom that is rightfully theirs, set against the vivid and colorful background of the Elizabethan age.
Caught up in the massacres, cruelty and beauty of Ireland, however, she is allowed no neutrality. Besides, she falls in love and becomes drawn into the last great rebellion led by Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and the realization that the piracy of the indomitable Grace O'Malley is outweighed by the piracy of England's Queen Elizabeth.
THE PIRATE QUEEN is the powerful story of a woman and a country fighting for the freedom that is rightfully theirs, set against the vivid and colorful background of the Elizabethan age.
691 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
11 people are currently reading
380 people want to read
About the author
Diana Norman
32 books146 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
British journalist Diana Norman also writes as Ariana Franklin.
Born Mary Diana Narracott, she grew up first in London and then in Devon, where her mother took her to escape the blitz. At the age of 15, she left school, but with journalism in her background (her father had been a Times correspondent)and her hardy intelligence, the lack of formal education proved no barrier and by 17 she was n London, working on a local newspaper in the East End.
Headhunted at 20 by the Daily Herald, Norman became the youngest reporter on Fleet Street, covering royal visits, donning camouflage to go on exercise with the Royal Marines, and missing her 21st birthday party because she was covering a murder on the south coast. When she protested about this to the news editor, she was told: "Many happy returns. Now get down to Southampton." Diana Norman became, at twenty years of age, the youngest reporter on what used to be Fleet Street.
She married the film critic Barry Norman in 1957, and they settled in Hertfordshire with their two daughters. She began writing fiction shortly after her second daughter was born. Her first book of fiction, Fitzempress's Law, was chosen by Frank Delaney of BBC Radio 4's Bookshelf as the best example of a historical novel of its year. She is now a freelance journalist, as well as a writer of biographies and historical novels.
She died at the age of 77 on January 27, 2011. She was best known for her historical crime series featuring the 12th-century medical examiner Adelia Aguilar, written under the pen name of Ariana Franklin. The first book in the series, Mistress of the Art of Death, was published to critical acclaim in 2007 and won the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger award in the UK, as well as prizes in the US and Sweden.
Norman is survived by her husband, their daughters, Samantha and Emma, and three grandsons. Mr. Norman wrote a wonderful tribute to his wife.
• Diana Norman, writer, born 25 August 1933; died 27 January 2011
British journalist Diana Norman also writes as Ariana Franklin.
Born Mary Diana Narracott, she grew up first in London and then in Devon, where her mother took her to escape the blitz. At the age of 15, she left school, but with journalism in her background (her father had been a Times correspondent)and her hardy intelligence, the lack of formal education proved no barrier and by 17 she was n London, working on a local newspaper in the East End.
Headhunted at 20 by the Daily Herald, Norman became the youngest reporter on Fleet Street, covering royal visits, donning camouflage to go on exercise with the Royal Marines, and missing her 21st birthday party because she was covering a murder on the south coast. When she protested about this to the news editor, she was told: "Many happy returns. Now get down to Southampton." Diana Norman became, at twenty years of age, the youngest reporter on what used to be Fleet Street.
She married the film critic Barry Norman in 1957, and they settled in Hertfordshire with their two daughters. She began writing fiction shortly after her second daughter was born. Her first book of fiction, Fitzempress's Law, was chosen by Frank Delaney of BBC Radio 4's Bookshelf as the best example of a historical novel of its year. She is now a freelance journalist, as well as a writer of biographies and historical novels.
She died at the age of 77 on January 27, 2011. She was best known for her historical crime series featuring the 12th-century medical examiner Adelia Aguilar, written under the pen name of Ariana Franklin. The first book in the series, Mistress of the Art of Death, was published to critical acclaim in 2007 and won the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger award in the UK, as well as prizes in the US and Sweden.
Norman is survived by her husband, their daughters, Samantha and Emma, and three grandsons. Mr. Norman wrote a wonderful tribute to his wife.
• Diana Norman, writer, born 25 August 1933; died 27 January 2011
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 18, 2011
This is going for $75.00 on Amazon used..got it for $2.00! Whoo-hoo!
July 22, 2019
Heavens, what a journey!!
I too, came late to Diana Norman and since then have bought all available copies and loved and laughed and cried reading every one of them.
The Pirate Queen, is available at an extortionate price of over £100 on Amazon so I am so grateful for this Kindle edition.
I hope to see all of Diana Norman's books in the near future so produced so that we do not miss even one of this brilliant authors'
talent.
I too, came late to Diana Norman and since then have bought all available copies and loved and laughed and cried reading every one of them.
The Pirate Queen, is available at an extortionate price of over £100 on Amazon so I am so grateful for this Kindle edition.
I hope to see all of Diana Norman's books in the near future so produced so that we do not miss even one of this brilliant authors'
talent.
July 16, 2022
"Regina piratilor" de Diana Norman a trezit in mine o curiozitate apasatoare fata de Irlanda a secolului saisprezece inca de la primele pagini. Mai rar gasesti o asemenea carte, cu actiune palpitanta bazata pe evenimente istorice reale, si cu personalitati mai putin cunoscute, dar atat de bine construite.
Pot sa spun ca am stat o bucata buna de vreme pe Wikipedia, cautand toate aceste persoane si razand citindu-le numele care deja mi-au devenit atat de familiare incat am impresia ca ii cunosc pe acei oameni personal. Poetul Edmund Spencer si poezia lui "The Faerie Queene" dedicata reginei Elizabetha (pe care nu am reusit sa o citesc, fiind oarecum intimidata de limbajul complicat), siretul Hugh O'Neill cu viclesugurile sale, si faimoasa pirateasa Grace O'Malley , sunt niste exemple atat de bine scrise, oameni buni, atata de bine scrise. Desi nutresc o anumita ura pentru regina Elizabetha I,in pofida faptului ca era o femeie puternica ce s-a dovedit la fel de capabila ca orice barbat care a stapanit vreodata peste Anglia, este foarte bine ca Norman a reusit sa imi starneasca o astfel de emotie negativa fata de un personaj ( eu sunt de felul meu neutra in ceea ce Ii priveste pe asa-zisii raufacatori,asa ca asta e o raritate)
Singurul meu regret este ca personajul principal,Barbary, nu exista, de altfel ador cum fictiunea se imbina cu realitatea, intr-o poveste incredibila, cu care mi-am invins plictiseala pe parcursul unei lungi saptamni de vara.
Imi place si cum o plimba Norman pe Barbary prin toate locurile in care s-au petrecut evenimente ce au ramas in istorie, de exemplu ni se prezinta o imagine destul de vie a murdarei Londre, plina de aristocrati dar totodata de pungasi, boarfe si negustori. Si zona Munsterului din Irlanda e bine descrisa, la fel ca tensiunea de acolo dintre irlandezii de rand si colonistii englezi.
Inca nu sunt in totaliltate familiara cu toate chestiunile politice ce aveau loc cand englezii incepeau anglicizarea Irlandei, insa cred ca am sa le pun la punct intr-o zi, cine stie, poate chiar azi.
Nici macar nu am terminat cartea, dar totusi scriu acest review pentru ca chiar daca nu va avea un sfarsit fericit sau satisfacator, asta nu are cum sa influenteze catusi de putin rating-ul maxim ce i-l ofer, caci il merita din plin.
Pot sa spun ca am stat o bucata buna de vreme pe Wikipedia, cautand toate aceste persoane si razand citindu-le numele care deja mi-au devenit atat de familiare incat am impresia ca ii cunosc pe acei oameni personal. Poetul Edmund Spencer si poezia lui "The Faerie Queene" dedicata reginei Elizabetha (pe care nu am reusit sa o citesc, fiind oarecum intimidata de limbajul complicat), siretul Hugh O'Neill cu viclesugurile sale, si faimoasa pirateasa Grace O'Malley , sunt niste exemple atat de bine scrise, oameni buni, atata de bine scrise. Desi nutresc o anumita ura pentru regina Elizabetha I,in pofida faptului ca era o femeie puternica ce s-a dovedit la fel de capabila ca orice barbat care a stapanit vreodata peste Anglia, este foarte bine ca Norman a reusit sa imi starneasca o astfel de emotie negativa fata de un personaj ( eu sunt de felul meu neutra in ceea ce Ii priveste pe asa-zisii raufacatori,asa ca asta e o raritate)
Singurul meu regret este ca personajul principal,Barbary, nu exista, de altfel ador cum fictiunea se imbina cu realitatea, intr-o poveste incredibila, cu care mi-am invins plictiseala pe parcursul unei lungi saptamni de vara.
Imi place si cum o plimba Norman pe Barbary prin toate locurile in care s-au petrecut evenimente ce au ramas in istorie, de exemplu ni se prezinta o imagine destul de vie a murdarei Londre, plina de aristocrati dar totodata de pungasi, boarfe si negustori. Si zona Munsterului din Irlanda e bine descrisa, la fel ca tensiunea de acolo dintre irlandezii de rand si colonistii englezi.
Inca nu sunt in totaliltate familiara cu toate chestiunile politice ce aveau loc cand englezii incepeau anglicizarea Irlandei, insa cred ca am sa le pun la punct intr-o zi, cine stie, poate chiar azi.
Nici macar nu am terminat cartea, dar totusi scriu acest review pentru ca chiar daca nu va avea un sfarsit fericit sau satisfacator, asta nu are cum sa influenteze catusi de putin rating-ul maxim ce i-l ofer, caci il merita din plin.
September 10, 2012
I took lots of notes on this book, and it is in need of a review so I will add some of my observations here. What a plot it has! Set in the Elizabethan era it is the tale of the child of a noble woman, who escapes from the tower where her mother is held for execution. She is raised as a street urchin on the streets of London, surviving on her wits alone. She's a fine sample of Norman's proclivity for a feisty heroine. Her story takes the reader through Queen Elizabeth's court and eventually to Ireland where she finds her roots. The novel is a hefty 600 pages and scales every strata of Elizabethan society, English and Irish, from the lowest in the gutter to the ton - and of course on sea as well as land.
Very hard to find and I wish it would come back in print, but with the author's recent death this seems unlikely. Find it if you can. It deserves to be enjoyed by more readers.
Very hard to find and I wish it would come back in print, but with the author's recent death this seems unlikely. Find it if you can. It deserves to be enjoyed by more readers.
February 11, 2022
Brilliant book, but make sure you are feeling resilient before reading. Can be very triggering.
I'm a huge fan of Diana Norman (writing both as Diana Norman and Ariana Franklin) so I was expecting exceptional research and the time and place certainly is vivid. The book is set during the reign of Elizabeth I mainly in Ireland so I had an idea what I was in for. I know Norman doesn't shy away from depicting the horrors of the ages she writes about, even so, this book is the most brutal and graphic of her depictions of the evil that humans are capable of that I've read to date. Her writing is so clever and thought provoking but this book may leave you with mind pictures you cannot unsee.
The characters are beautifully written, totally 3D, some deeply flawed and still likeable, some horrific and yet comprehensible. Ireland's landscape is vivid. The story is a page turner. Norman is mistress of this genre and her passing was a great loss to bookworms everywhere.
I'm a huge fan of Diana Norman (writing both as Diana Norman and Ariana Franklin) so I was expecting exceptional research and the time and place certainly is vivid. The book is set during the reign of Elizabeth I mainly in Ireland so I had an idea what I was in for. I know Norman doesn't shy away from depicting the horrors of the ages she writes about, even so, this book is the most brutal and graphic of her depictions of the evil that humans are capable of that I've read to date. Her writing is so clever and thought provoking but this book may leave you with mind pictures you cannot unsee.
The characters are beautifully written, totally 3D, some deeply flawed and still likeable, some horrific and yet comprehensible. Ireland's landscape is vivid. The story is a page turner. Norman is mistress of this genre and her passing was a great loss to bookworms everywhere.
March 23, 2015
Overlong and overly horrific.
Elizabeth I is trying to tame Ireland and the Irish. The Irish are trying to reclaim their independence. The result is much like WWII's Holocaust where the northern Irish, at least, are virtually wiped out.
Spoiler alerts. Enter the heroine Barbary, unknown heir to Grace O'Malley the Irish pirate queen, who winds up marrying a British lord and loving a high ranking Irish rebel. If that's what the story were about it would be half the size and twice the interest. Instead the book focuses on the nitty gritty of the horrific suffering brought onto the Irish, and that much suffering is just too hard to plod thru. I did plod thru, because I've liked Norman's work and I just knew it had to wind up well. 20 pages from the end I was still wondering how it was going to wind up well. But it didn't, and I was left feeling cheated.
Elizabeth I is trying to tame Ireland and the Irish. The Irish are trying to reclaim their independence. The result is much like WWII's Holocaust where the northern Irish, at least, are virtually wiped out.
Spoiler alerts. Enter the heroine Barbary, unknown heir to Grace O'Malley the Irish pirate queen, who winds up marrying a British lord and loving a high ranking Irish rebel. If that's what the story were about it would be half the size and twice the interest. Instead the book focuses on the nitty gritty of the horrific suffering brought onto the Irish, and that much suffering is just too hard to plod thru. I did plod thru, because I've liked Norman's work and I just knew it had to wind up well. 20 pages from the end I was still wondering how it was going to wind up well. But it didn't, and I was left feeling cheated.
July 29, 2025
sehr fesselnd
October 30, 2019
I've been waiting years to find a copy of this title. I've read Diana Norman historical fiction for years. I loved this story and the history of Ireland in Elizabethan times.
March 17, 2022
Emotional. Incredible.
September 27, 2023
Heartbreaking
Read
September 22, 2013Ich hatte mich sehr auf dieses Buch gefreut, da ich doch historische Romane gerne lese und der Klappentext mich sehr angesprochen hat. Als ich dann noch erfuhr, dass Diana Norman auch unter dem Namen Ariana Franklin schreibt (von der ich mit Begeisterung ein Hörbuch gehört hatte), war meine Freude umso größer.
Die ersten Seiten waren auch wirklich toll. Die Flucht der kleinen Barbary aus dem Gefängnisturm, das hat mir gefallen. Doch dann wurde es sehr unübersichtlich, als die Königin ins Spiel kam und mit ihr sehr viele neue Personen. Da fiel mir zum ersten Mal der umständliche Schreibstil auf mit langen und vielfach verschachtelten Sätzen. Doch leider wurde es nicht wirklich besser. Zwar fand ich die Geschichte an sich immer noch interessant und spannend, aber die Erzählweise war langatmig und hölzern, oft verlaufen sich die Beschreibungen in kleinsten, für den Verlauf der Geschichte wirklich unwichtigen Details. Manche Perspektivwechsel waren für mich eher verwirrend als das sie der Spannung dienten, die Kapitel lang mit weitschweifigen Beschreibungen.
Aber nicht alles war schlecht, die Autorin hat einen sehr eigenen Humor, der mich immer wieder hat schmunzeln lassen. Auch die Charaktere sind gut gezeichnet, gerade die Veränderungen der Protagonistin Barbary, ihre Entwicklung ist (zumindest bis Seite 413) klar zu sehen. Sie ist eine tapfere Frau, die mutig ihre Meinung vertritt mit einem festen Ziel vor Augen. Viele Menschen laufen ihr über den Weg, manche begleiten sie ein längeres Stück. Wer aber immer wieder auftaucht, ist der Gehörnte Dick, der mir durch seine treue und liebevolle Art sehr ans Herz gewachsen ist. Doch ihn muss man erst kennenlernen, zunächst wirkt er eher wie ein Rüpel, der sich durchs Leben schlägt.
Doch an dem für mich nicht angenehm zu lesenden Schreibstil bin ich dann doch gescheitert. Auf Seite 413 habe ich aufgeben, ich konnte mich einfach nicht daran gewöhnen. Gerne hätte ich gewusst, wie es mit Barbary weitergeht, doch leider hat mir das Lesen keine Freude gemacht und hat mich eher gequält. Schade – denn gerade auf dieses Buch hatte ich mich sehr gefreut.
Die ersten Seiten waren auch wirklich toll. Die Flucht der kleinen Barbary aus dem Gefängnisturm, das hat mir gefallen. Doch dann wurde es sehr unübersichtlich, als die Königin ins Spiel kam und mit ihr sehr viele neue Personen. Da fiel mir zum ersten Mal der umständliche Schreibstil auf mit langen und vielfach verschachtelten Sätzen. Doch leider wurde es nicht wirklich besser. Zwar fand ich die Geschichte an sich immer noch interessant und spannend, aber die Erzählweise war langatmig und hölzern, oft verlaufen sich die Beschreibungen in kleinsten, für den Verlauf der Geschichte wirklich unwichtigen Details. Manche Perspektivwechsel waren für mich eher verwirrend als das sie der Spannung dienten, die Kapitel lang mit weitschweifigen Beschreibungen.
Aber nicht alles war schlecht, die Autorin hat einen sehr eigenen Humor, der mich immer wieder hat schmunzeln lassen. Auch die Charaktere sind gut gezeichnet, gerade die Veränderungen der Protagonistin Barbary, ihre Entwicklung ist (zumindest bis Seite 413) klar zu sehen. Sie ist eine tapfere Frau, die mutig ihre Meinung vertritt mit einem festen Ziel vor Augen. Viele Menschen laufen ihr über den Weg, manche begleiten sie ein längeres Stück. Wer aber immer wieder auftaucht, ist der Gehörnte Dick, der mir durch seine treue und liebevolle Art sehr ans Herz gewachsen ist. Doch ihn muss man erst kennenlernen, zunächst wirkt er eher wie ein Rüpel, der sich durchs Leben schlägt.
Doch an dem für mich nicht angenehm zu lesenden Schreibstil bin ich dann doch gescheitert. Auf Seite 413 habe ich aufgeben, ich konnte mich einfach nicht daran gewöhnen. Gerne hätte ich gewusst, wie es mit Barbary weitergeht, doch leider hat mir das Lesen keine Freude gemacht und hat mich eher gequält. Schade – denn gerade auf dieses Buch hatte ich mich sehr gefreut.
November 22, 2014
This was 846 pages long! Now I know why it took so long to finish--a real epic. The horrors of the endless, senseless wars in Ireland in the late 16th century are not a good setting for a happy end, and there isn't one really in this book. Increasingly depressing, despite the two amazingly strong women "pirates." Now I need to read something light and funny, with a happy end.
August 22, 2013
A complete Elizabethan adventure across a wide canvas. You can smell the locations!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews